Page 26 of Bearing Secrets
Yet she couldn’t deny he was a good kisser. Soft lips, just the right amount of tongue. It had her craving more. He would pull back ever so slightly, and she went after him, wanting it to go on for one second more. Natalia knew she was playing right into his hands by letting herself be enticed, by showing she was just as into it as he was, but she didn’t care. Not right then. Maybe it was that last glass of wine.
Who cares, it’s just a kiss.
Almost as if by telepathy, Kirell pulled back, lifting her to a standing position. “I…um.”
She smiled, feeling her face heat up. “I know. It’s okay. I think. But I should probably go home.”
Kirell hesitated.
“What?”
“If we’re going through with this, you have to come with me. There’s um, a lot you need to know.”
She wasn’t sure if that was a ploy to try and get her into bed or not, but the awkward delivery was unlike his usual confident manner when it came to her. Hoping she wasn’t making a huge mistake, Natalia made the snap decision to go with him. Most of all, she was curious as to just what it was he was going to show her.
“I have to tell Loren, at least, so she doesn’t freak out when I don’t come home.”
“Of course. You’re free to talk to her as long as you don’t mention anything you see once you arrive.”
“Uh. Okay?”
“It’ll make sense shortly, I promise. The whole cryptic mystery stuff is annoying, but necessary. You’ll understand.”
Kirell smiled that disarming smile of his and pulled open the car door for her. “If it helps, it’s a longer drive on winding country roads. We’ll get to have some fun with the car.”
“Sold.”
Natalia slipped into the bucket seat, looking through the window as Kirell closed the door and turned away to walk around.
Cute butt.
She was staring at it for three or four seconds before she realized he hadn’t moved. Leaning forward she looked around him to see what was going on. What she saw made her heartrate spike.
11
“Ursidae scum.”
He turned slowly, thankful the door was already closed.
“You’d better go home. Run back to mommy.”
Kirell looked at the trio tiredly. “Seriously? Does anyone know you three mongrels are out here acting like a bunch of teenagers?”
“You aren’t welcome here,” one of them sneered, taking a step forward. “Don’t come back to the Leblanc.”
“Piss off. It’s neutral territory, you bloody idiot. You don’t have a claim on it.”
“Not anymore. The times are a-changing, and you filthy degenerates are no longer welcome.”
Kirell snorted, squaring up his stance to the instigators. “Riggghhht. Well, last time I checked, none of you three was in any sort of position of power in House Canis.”
“HighHouse Canis,” the same one snarled, coming closer.
Pegging him as the leader, Kirell sized him up. Tall, with the more lithe athletic body of a wolf shifter, compared to the bulk of himself and his bear cousins. One on one, Kirell should have no problem taking him down, assuming nobody brought anything special to the fight.
His biggest worries were irradiated material, which played havoc with the modified DNA of shapeshifters, or any magical items. He had no defenses ready for either of them, but considering their action was likely unsanctioned by House Canis, it seemed unlikely they would have anything like that.
That just left the fact that they had numbers in their favor. Given that he was twenty years their junior at least, he felt confident that he could get the drop on two of them, his faster reflexes and relative youth giving him the edge there. But three? That wasn’t looking so good. Especially if any of them were trained.
